Hi friends. I am Josh, and I have been a practicing lay Theravadin for about two years now. I live in Houston, Texas. I am a single father and a part-time college student. Although I have occasionally visited the local vihāra here in Houston, I am not closely affiliated with it and am very happy to find a place to discuss the Dhamma with other practioners, especially in English! It seems that most of the teachers I read and follow are Sri Lankan or are affiliated with Sri Lankan Buddhism, such as Bhikkhu Bodhi, Narāda Thera, Bhante G, but I also enjoy Thanissro Bhikkhu's writings. I hope to have many fruitful Dhamma discussions!

Josh

- Josh (Upāsaka Duṭṭhagāmaṇi)

That Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, fully enlightened, endowedwith [clear] vision and [virtuous] conduct, sublime, the knower of worlds, theincomparable leader of men to be tamed, the teacher of gods and men,enlightened and blessed (M I 37; A III 285).

The heart of the path is SO simple. No need for long explanations. Give up clinging to love and hate, just rest with things as they are. That is all I do in my own practice. Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. When you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques to develop samadhi and many kinds of vipassana. But it all comes back to this - just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. - Ajahn Chah

I grabbed the same pic a few weeks ago and inverted it (using MS Paint)

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.” - Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:in mountain clefts and chasms,loud gush the streamlets,but great rivers flow silently.- Sutta Nipata 3.725